Quiltsng-frame



(No Model.)

R.B.BLEDSOE. QUILTING FRAME.

Patented July 24, 1883.

I INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT B. BLEDSOE, OF ALVARADO, TEXAS.

QUILTQ'NG-FRAM E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 281,826, dated July 24, 1883.

. Application filed February 23, 1893.

T0 ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT B. Bnnnson, of Alvarado, in the county of Johnson and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved Quilting-Frame, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to improve the means for suspending a quilting-frame, so that a sewing-machine may be more conveniently used in the quilting operation.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a quiltingframe contrived as I propose and suspended by the means which I have arranged. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of frame and suspending apparatus. Fig. 3 is a section along one of the rollers with a portion of the quilt hanging to the roller.

I propose to provide four cords, (Z, which are looped over a projection, e, at the top of the upright c, and passing down through holes in the end bars, I), of the quilting-fran1e, suitably for suspending the frame by them. Said cords d, after passing through'the end bars, I), pass up on the outer side of the end bars, I), and are fastened by means of the cleats f. The bar a connects the end bars, I), said bars 6 having mortises z in their middle, through which the ends of the bar a pass, and are secured in position by means of pins a, which pass down through bars b. In the middle of bar a there is a block, 1;, fastened on the top side of bar a. The upright c has a slot at its lower end, which fits down over the block 1;, and the pin m rests on top of block 1), and can be shifted up or down to raise or lower the frame by shifting the pin on to other apertures of the upright c, which is suspended from the rod g, which rests on the grooved rollers t, which are connected by the swivels j with the grooved rollers 70,

which rest on the wires Z, the wires being stretched from side to side of the room and fastened thereto or to any suitable support, and made tight by means of the pivoted levers r, held by any suitable catch plates or bars, 1", thus allowing the rollers k to roll along the wires Z, for passing the quilt along a sewing (No model.)

machine to be quilted, the rod 9 being kept at right angles to the wires Z when it is desired to have the lines of stitches parallel to the edges of the quilt, and obliquely thereto when the lines of stitches are to be diagonal.

To shift the quilt laterally on the sewingmachine table, the rod 9 is moved along the rollers i. The upright c is keyed to said rod 9 by key h, for readily detaching it when the frame is to be taken down.

The bar a is made in sections, and is joined together by means of the hinges a. The joints and hinges a allow it to be folded up when not in use. I also propose to make the rolle'rs p and q of the quilting-frame in sections and connect them by means of sheet-metal ferrules s, the ends of said sections to be cut diagonally to prevent them from turning in the ferrules. These sections are to enable the rollers to be separated for packing away.

The quilt u is to be connected to the rollers 11 and g by cords t and small hooks w, suitably attached to said rollers at intervals along them. The quilt it rolls over the rollerqand, passing under the bar a, rolls under the roller 1). The roller p passes under the arm of the sewing machine, and the stitching is done in the space between the roller 1) and the bar a.

Instead of the usual ratchet device for stretching the quilt by the rollers p and q, I propose to employ the pulleys 0, cords 3 and cleats w, as a simpler and better arrangcment'by which the tension can be adjusted than with the ratchet device, which is sometimes too slack or too taut in consequence of the spaces between the notches of the ratchet. The cords y are attached at one end to the pulleys 0, and are wound around them to be drawn off in turning the rollers. WVhen they have been wholly unwound, they can be wound on again. The pulleys 0 are to be detaehably fastened on the rollers pand q, to be taken off readily when the frame is to be taken apart.

WVhen it is desired to hang up the frame when out of use, the roller 1) is'taken from un- 'der the arm of the machine, the cords dare slackened and-lifted from over the projection e, the frame is lowered to allow the block 22 to slip out of the slot in the lower end of upright c, and the upright c is then turned up horizontally by raising itslower end. The frame is then raised, and the eyes I) are hooked to the lower ends of the wire hooks c, the upper ends of said hooks being hooked over the wires Z. hen a quilt is put in the frame to be quilted, it is spread out on the floor or any convenient place and wound on the rollers p and q, the said rollers 1) and q being entirely detached from the rest of the frame until the quilt is wound on them.

My improved quilting-frame is simple in construction and effective for its purposes, enabling the quilting to proceed with accurate spacing of the lines of stitching and with little fatigue to the operator.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination, with a quiltingframe having the ap ertured end bars, I), and cleats f, of the upright 0, having the top projection, c, and the four cords d, looped over said projection, passing through said end-bar apertures, up the outside of said end bars, and to the cleats, as 2 5 shown and described.

2. The combination of the cords J, upright ears-2c 0, block 2;, rod y, and-rollers i with a quilting= frame, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in a qniltingframe sus pending device, of cords d, upright 0, rod rollers i, swivels j, rollers 7r, wires 2, and levers r, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the bar a, carrying the top block, 1), of the upright 0, provided with aslot fitting over said block, and the shifting-pin m, the latter adapted to rest on the block and enter one of the various apertures in said upright, whereby the frame may be raised or lowered, as described.

5. The combination, with the rod g, carrying the suspended upright c, of the grooved rollers i 70, connected by swivels j, the stretched wires Z, and the pivoted levers 9', whereby the quilt may be passed along asewing-machine, as described.

6. The combination of the cords d, upright 0, block '0, and pin m, for raising and lowering the frame, substantially as described.

ROBERT B. BLEDSOE.

Vitnesses S. V. SEAMAN, \V. P. Browns. 

